Solitude

Laugh and the world laughs with you
Weep and you weep alone
For the sad old earth must borrow it's mirth
But has trouble enough of it's own

Sing and the hills will answer
Sigh and it's lost on the air
The echoes bound to a joyful sound
But shrink from voicing care

Rejoice and men will seek you
Grieve and they turn and go
They want full measure of your pleasure
But they do not need your woe

Be glad and your friends are many
Be sad and you lose them all
There are none to decline your nectared wine
But alone you must drink life's gall

Feast and your halls are crowded
Fast and the world goes by
Succeed and give and it helps you live
But no man can help you die

There is room in the halls of pleasure
For a large and lordly train
But one by one we must all file on
Through the narrow aisles of pain